Stand Your Ground
by Janet12
Summary: The number of Hawks is increasing and they're becoming more dangerous. Vidia is injured and stranded on board a pirate ship. Rated T for said injury. It's all good and well to stand your ground, but is it good for a fast flying fairy? After Pirate Fairy.
1. Hawk Attack

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters do not belong to me.**

**See my profile for chronological list of Alternate Universe Vidia stories.**

**Third story in my Vidia series.**

**Stand Your Ground**

**Part 1**

**Hawk Attack**

Vidia heard hammering from far below her, and from the corner of her eye could see a fairy in green.

"Tinkerbell's messing with her gadgets again." Vidia muttered, almost rudely, but not quite.

"Vidia! Hey, Vidia!"

Vidia glanced back over her shoulder, then gracefully looped around to hover near Wisp. "What is it?"

"Mixie saw a hawk heading southwest. Queen Clarion wants you to fly over the cove and see if that's where they've gone."

Vidia nodded and took off.

Recently, hawks had become a common danger. The fast-flying fairies had been ordered to help out the Scout-talent fairies to look out for them. No one had been injured by a hawk attack yet, but it was a lot more work for the talents involved. On the bright side, which Vidia refused to acknowledge, they got more pixie dust.

Vidia flew fast and high, keeping a sharp lookout for hawks. She saw some smaller birds and gulls circling the pirate ship, landing on the rails and mast, looking for food. Her mind wandered to Pixie Hollow and her friends there. Tinkerbell had been talking about going to the beach to look for lost things, and Vidia had meant to go with – to make sure she didn't become a hawk's lunch.

Vidia turned and headed down toward the pirate ship slowly, meaning to circle around it and head back for home. Suddenly the gulls on the rail looked up at her coming in and took off. Surprised, Vidia paused in the air, floating gently in place while all the birds left – flying directly away from her.

She frowned. "What's up with them?" she wondered aloud, right before a shadow blocked out the sun.

She snapped her head upward and froze. An enormous hawk was diving straight for her. Instinctively, Vidia turned and flew for her life. The hawk had a head start and she could hear his feathers swooshing through the air behind her.

She turned downward, putting on as much speed as she could. She tried zigzagging from side to side, but every time, he stayed right with her – and seemed to get even closer.

Over land she would have found a tree or a bush where he couldn't see her. Over the choppy water, though, there were no hiding places.

_Except the pirate ship!_ Vidia realized, and zoomed toward it.

She got closer – closer . . . so close . . .

She glanced over her shoulder to check where the hawk was. She turned back to face front and had to dodge the gathered up sail. She rocketed around the upper deck, looking desperately for a way to lose him.

Vidia felt a sharp claw brush her ankle. She jerked and put on a great burst of speed. She spotted a net hanging from the yard and tore straight for it.

She slowed, not wanting to be caught in the small rope strands.

"Ah!" Vidia's wings and back suddenly made her shriek in pain. She shot through the net and lef the hawk on the other side holding something in his beak. He extended his wings, trying to stop, and twisted his head from the net and went over. He looked around, but Vidia was nowhere to be seen, as if she had vanished.

If he had thought to look down, he would have seen his prey lying on the rough board floor of the ship.

**Stand Your Ground**

"Tink – have you seen Vidia?" Silvermist asked, gliding down to land on the floor near Tinkerbell.

Tink looked up from her acorn teapot. "I saw her flying over this morning."

At the other table, Bobble stopped his work and pushed up his glasses to listen.

"When?"

Tinkerbell frowned, thinking. "Pretty early – I figured she was on a hawk-scouting mission. She was heading south."

"I think she was."

"Sil, why are you asking?"

"No one has seen her for hours." Silvermist replied, agitated. "Wisp passed on Queen Clarion's order for her to scout for hawks around the cove, and you saw her leaving, but she hasn't come back."

"What's wrong? Who hasn't come back?" Rosetta drawled, floating gracefully down to the tinker's workshop where Tink and Silvermist were talking.

"Ro, what are you doing here?" Tinkerbell asked, surprised.

Fawn walked over. "What's up, guys? I had to leave the frogs to practice on their own to come meet you."

Iridessa landed nearby.

All three of them looked up as Nyx landed nearby and walked over.

"I sent the messages asking you to come here." Nyx said, skipping any introduction. "As Vidia's friends, I assume you'll want to know that Vidia has been missing for six hours. I've sent out searching parties, but for now it seems that Vidia is the first Hawk victim this year."

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia opened her eyes, dizzy and confused. She could see something large and black that seemed to be coming down towards her very quickly.

The hawk! It was diving toward her! She rolled out of the way, only to hear the shoe clomp loudly as the pirate trudged to the stairs and went down to the lower deck.

Something was wrong, though. When she had rolled, she hadn't felt her wings beneath her. She couldn't feel them at all.

Her breaths came faster as she reached behind her shoulders and felt nothing. Something across the deck caught her eye and she walked cautiously over.

Vidia's wings lay shredded on the deck. She picked them up tenderly, her mind a whirl of thoughts.

"He ripped them off and didn't even have the decency to eat them." she choked. "How am I _ever_ getting back to Pixie Hollow?"

A shadow suddenly fell over her.

_Hawk!_

Vidia's head snapped upward, but the shadow was cast by the flag – the Jolly Roger – snapping in the wind. A pirate climbed the stairs, coming toward her, and she hurried toward the mast to hide behind a barrel.

Vidia backed away from the pirate as he came across the deck, then went into the cabin. She turned around and froze.

She was face to snout with a large brown rat.

She stared at him, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

_I sure wish Fawn was here._

"Why are you wearing a new color?"

Vidia stepped back, a suspicious frown on her face. She watched him carefully for a moment before replying. "Rats talk?"

The rat shrugged. "I do. None of the other ones will."

Vidia took another step away. "How come you do?"

"I don't know."

Vidia surveyed the fuzzy creature. "Have we met before?"

"Yes, but you were wearing green and were with a bunch of other leafy people. I was just trying to get an apple core. The red-furred critter called me a mouse."

Vidia snorted. "That was Rosetta. She couldn't tell the difference between a moth and a butterfly. She's a garden fairy. Yeah, and by the way, I'm Vidia."

"Vidia?" He cocked his head.

"Yeah."

"Wha-" he paused. "What do you mean by Vidia?"

"I – don't understand the question."

"What is Vidia. Why are you saying that?"

"Vidia is me. That's my name. It's what everybody calls me. Like this piece of wood being called a mast. It's to identify me."

"Huh. I've never needed a name. How do I get a name?"

"Pick one." Vidia advised.

"I don't know how."

"It might be something you enjoy . . . my friend has a mouse named Cheese."

"Well, how about 'apple core'?"

Vidia shook her head. "That wouldn't work too well. How about something descriptive. You look kinda scruffy and brownish . . ."

"Can I be named that?"

"Brown? Brownie?"

"No, the other. Scruffy."

"Don't see why not. It's your name."

"Then I'm named Scruffy."

"Nice to meet you, darling, but I'm leaving." She paused noticing suddenly that the sails were down and filled with wind. She took a few steps toward the rail. "How long have they been sailing? Couple of minutes?"

"More like hours." Scruffy corrected.

"What?" She turned to look at him in dismay.

"We're far from the cove."

"In which direction?"

"I'm a rat! How would I know?"

"Scruffy, when'll the pirates go back?" Vidia asked. "I need to get off the ship – right now. Fairies at Pixie Hollow have enough trouble keeping clear of the hawks, they don't need to be looking for me, too."

"Weeeeell . . ." Scruffy scratched his ear with his back leg. "I might be able to help."

"With what?"

"Getting you off the ship."

"I have a feeling this is coming with conditions." Vidia put her hand on her hip and waited.

"Take me with you."

Vidia's eyes widened, then she snorted. "Scruffy, look. I need to make good time and get back to Pixie Hollow. You are heavy, and do you even know how to swim?"

"Do you?"

"Don't change the subject – what happened to your foot?" Vidia stared at his injured leg.

"I got in a rat-fight a couple of months ago." Scruffy replied, holding out his stumped leg.

"Scruffy, if you think I'm going on a raft or something with a three-legged rat, you're wrong."

"Three and a half! Besides, you're injured, too."

"When I get back to Pixie Hollow, we'll see if there's anything they can do to fix me up." Vidia said, speaking more to herself than to her new friend.

"Do you think they could fix my foot, too?"

"I'm not a nursing-talent – I don't know."

"You don't know they can't, then. Now you _have_ to take me."

"So what's the escape plan?" Vidia changed the subject.

"Not telling you unless you take me."

"Not deciding until you show me. Spit it out, dearie." Vidia demanded.

"I have a hat."

"A hat. How useful."

"I thought if you dusted it . . ." Scruffy tried to explain.

"It needs dusting?"

"I mean fairy dust."

"That . . . makes more sense. Let's see this dusty old hat." Vidia followed the rat across the floor and down below deck.

It was a large red hat with a wide brim.

"Nice hat." Vidia noted. She picked up the edge and struggled to lift it. Scruffy angled his nose underneath and flipped the hat over for her. "How are we going to get it on deck?"

Scruffy paused. "I figured that because you're a fairy, _you'd_ figure out how to do that."

"We could try to fly it up."

"The grating to the deck is closed." Scruffy pointed out.

Vidia scowled, crossing her arms, then her face lit up. "I've got it."

"What?"

"You're pretty strong, right?"

"Yes, but I'm not tall enough to open the grating." Scruffy pointed out.

"I don't think you need to be." Vidia smirked. "Get me some rope."

Scruffy scampered off, while Vidia dragged the hat near the base of the ladder.

Scruffy returned. "There's some rope on deck, but I can't get it down here."

"That's good enough. Now, I'll tie one end of the rope to the grating, climb the mast, and toss the other end to you on the ground, and then you'll be pulling it up. You keep it open, and I'll fly the hat onto deck."

"You're not going to leave me behind, are you?" Scruffy asked.

Vidia hesitated. "Look, I'm trying to get back to Pixie Hollow in one piece. You're not exactly a strong ally."

"What do you mean? I'm scary. I've got big teeth, and I can puff out my fur like this . ." Scruffy suddenly seemed much larger. "And get even _scarier_."

"You've only got three legs." Vidia pointed out.

"Three and a half."

"Three feet, then."

"Come back in six months, I'll probably only have two. You couldn't have that on your conscience, could you?"

Vidia sighed. "Fine, come with. But if you cause me any trouble, I'll leave you on the beach and go on my own."

"Fine with me." Scruffy agreed, bravely.

"Now get ready for that rope." Vidia and Scruffy climbed up the ladder slowly.

Vidia tied one end of the rope to the grating, and stared up at the mast.

"It's a lot taller from the ground." she murmured, before starting up. It was pretty easy climbing – all the sword marks in it gave her holds.

Before long she was scooting out to the end of the yard and untying the rope from her waist.

She lowered it down to Scruffy, who was waiting for it..

"Got it." he called, and started pulling. She made her way back to the mast, mapping out how to get the hat all the way to Pixie Hollow.

"Vidia – Vidia!"

She glared down at the rat. "What?"

"It's isn't working – what's wrong?"

Vidia peered down at the grating. The rope was holding, but it wasn't opening – then she saw it.

"I see the problem. It's got a latch holding it shut."

"Well, fix it." Scruffy sounded impatient.

"From up here? What d'you think I am? Tinker fairy?" Vidia shouted back. "Give me a minute."

"Someone's going to notice the rope, Vidia!" Scruffy glanced around at the pirates who were milling around the lower deck. "Vidia, hurry up!"


	2. Escape from the Pirate Ship

**Disclaimer: All recognizable story material does not belong to me.**

**Stand Your Ground**

**Chapter 2**

**Escape from the Pirate Ship**

"Got it – I've got it. Tuck the rope underneath something really heavy – a cannon or something."

Scruffy hurried to obey her, and Vidia slid down the rope to meet him. She shaded her eyes from the nearly setting sun as she gazed up at the ropes holding the yard in place.

"What next, Vidia?" Scruffy asked.

"We need to untie the braces." Vidia said, determined.

"What're braces?"

Vidia paused. "Ropes on either side of the yard."

"What's the yard?"

"The horizontal post holding the sails up." Vidia pointed, impatiently. "See those ropes tied to the hooks on the rail on either side of the ship?"

"Yup." Scruffy answered.

"Those are the braces. We need to untie them, cut them, or chew through them. I don't care which, as long as we get them undone. You take that one, I'll do the other." Vidia ran across the deck toward the rope. She paused to snatch up a stray pirate knife almost as big as she was. She climbed up onto the rail and used the knife to saw at the rope.

"I untied it, Vidia!" Scruffy called.

"Get to the hat – I'll be there in a moment." the knife Vidia had picked up wasn't very sharp, and had only cut through half the rope, but the yard was pulling it taut.

A pirate climbed up the stairs from the lower deck and across to the grating. He paused when he saw the rope, then reached for his knife to cut through it. Vidia froze, trying to think.

SNAP!

The rope next to her had completely snapped. Her knife went flying overboard, barely missing her. The yard swung around, wrenching the grating out of it's hinges and breaking the latch. The pirate gave a yell as the grating knocked him backwards and then went swinging around the mast at the end of the rope.

Vidia dropped onto the deck and ran across to the hatch. She jumped down, letting her pixie dust fall onto the hat, which then floated up to meet her. She landed with a thump next to Scruffy.

"Wow! We're flying!"

"That's what pixie dust is supposed to do." Vidia pulled the brim upward, steering the hat toward the hatch.

Scruffy stood still as she directed their vessel up out over the deck and into the sunlight. "What shall I do?" he asked, after a moment.

"Sit still right in the middle. I'll steer." Vidia instructed. "Next stop, Pixie Hollow."

But things didn't go according to plan. Not at all.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia leaned forward, making the hat fly a little faster. She peered over the edge and looked down at the water below. Suddenly, it didn't seem such a great escape idea.

"Are we going to make it to the beach?" Scruffy noticed her expression.

"Of course. We're going to Pixie Hollow." Vidia shook off the strange feeling of helplessness.

A gust of wind threatened to make the hat flip. Vidia stumbled forward to the front of the boat, and clutched the thick seam. The hat zoomed forward and down.

"Ahh! Vidia, what are you doing?" Scruffy shrieked, terrified.

"I'm not trying to! Move back!"

Scruffy pulled himself up into the other end of the hat.

Vidia sighed in relief as the hat straightened out.

Scruffy looked back at the pirate ship. "That got us way out very fast."

"It was the wind, actually. When I do something like that, it works better." she twirled a finger and made a whirlwind that she used to direct them toward land.

Another gust of wind caught her off guard. Scruffy shifted his weight and the hat again dived downward. Vidia tugged his fur until he got back to a balanced position, and the hat straightened inches above the water.

"That was close." were Scruffy's words just before a wave hurled over the brim, soaking them both.

Vidia spat out some water. "The hat's too heavy – it'll sink!"

"Pixie dust has a weight limit?" Scruffy started to panic.

"Get in the middle of the hat." Vidia ordered. "We need to get to shore."

She created a wind to blow them high in the air, but nearly fell overboard when the hat tipped. Scruffy tried to dig his claws into the fabric, but it was too tough, and he skidded into Vidia. Vidia shoved Scruffy roughly into the center of the hat, preventing it from spinning. The wind caught the brim and blew them higher and toward land.

"Stay where you are!" Vidia warned as she stepped forward. The hat tilted and started going down.

"What're you doing? We're going to crash!" Scruffy eyes rounded in terror.

"No, we aren't." Vidia shot back. "Let me handle this."

"Look out for the tree!" Scruffy yelled,

Vidia stepped to one side and then back. The hat dodged the tree and moved right back on course.

"See, not hard at all." Vidia glanced back at him over her shoulder. "We'll get a fair distance -"

"Vidia – look out!"

Vidia turned just in time to be thrown out of the hat as it crashed. She landed softly on the a palm branch and pushed herself to her feet. "Scruffy! Are you okay?"

"Stubbed my nose, but I'm all right." he rubbed his nose with one paw.

Vidia walked out on the palm branch she had landed on. "Oh, great."

"What?" Scruffy looked around. "Hey – If we crashed, what are we doing in a palm tree?"

"I think I managed to crash onto a palm tree." Vidia admitted.

"Well, we'll be in plain sight when the other fairies start looking for you."

Vidia remained silent.

"They _will_ be looking for you, won't they?"

Vidia climbed onto the brim of the hat. "I'm not exactly – popular."

"Why am I not surprised?" Scruffy sat down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vidia took offense.

"I finally meet a fairy who could get me off the pirate ship, we crash our flying hat into a tree, then I find she doesn't have any friends, so the other fairies won't rescue us. Just my luck."

"Well, as I said, I'm not popular, but I'm pretty sure they'll make an effort to find us. Tink and the others will try, anyway."

"Who's 'Tink'?"

"Tinkerbell. Friend of mine. Well . . . we're kind of friends. Not enemies anymore. I guess we _are_ friends."

"So you do have friends. But only a few." Scruffy seemed more hopeful.

"We don't need their help, anyway. We can get home on our own." Vidia peered down toward the beach. "It's too dark to start climbing down now. We'd better sleep a bit and try in the morning."

"Okay." Scruffy curled up. "Goodnight."

Vidia didn't reply.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia was awakened by the noise of seagulls. She reached for her pillow to cover her ears, and just then rolled off her bed onto something fuzzy. Thoroughly awake and very confused, she stood and looked around.

She'd just landed on Scruffy, who hadn't even twitched.

She yawned and stretched. "Hey, Scruffy, wake up. It's morning." Vidia jumped out of the hat. "We need to get started or we won't get far today."

"Right." Scruffy shook himself. "So do we get to use the pixie dust on the hat again?"

Vidia paused. "No, it's all worn off."

"Don't you have more?" the rat was disappointed.

"It all got washed of when that wave splashed us. I'm not a pixie dust tree." Vidia retorted. "We'll have to climb down."

"I can't."

"I thought rats could climb walls."

"We can when we have all four feet."

"Oh." Vidia studied the hat. _What would Tinkerbell do? _She wondered. "Vines. I'll get vines. You poke some holes in the brim of the hat."  
"You're going to lower me in the hat? You'll have to get some very long vines." Scruffy pointed out.

"It's only a very young palm tree – it's only about four feet tall."

"If you're sure you can." Scruffy responded, dubiously.

"We'll find out." Vidia climbed through the palm branches. "I'll be back in a bit." She climbed down the palm tree and walked to the forest. She saw a few vines hanging from a low branch, pulled one down, then put it in a pile on the sand

She walked further into the forest, then spied a very long vine draped over a low branch. She grabbed the end closest to her with both hands and started pulling it toward her. It took her a while to pull it all, but when she got to the end, it had eyes.

She dropped it and stepped back. The snake was moving threateningly. His tongue flickered creepily in and out.

Vidia turned and ran. Her breath came faster, and her heart pounded in her chest. She didn't hear anything behind her, but when she glanced back saw it had followed her silently.. It took only moments for her to get out of breath. She ran out of the woods and down to the water. The soggy sand got all over her shoes. She snatched up a sharp piece of broken shell and brandished it as she turned slowly in a circle, looking for dangers.

The snake had stopped following her and was watching her from far away. He stayed there, frozen, for a few moments, then went away.

Vidia let out a terrified breath and whirled as she heard scraping in the sand. A small crab was staring at her. She glared fiercely at it, and it scuttled away.

Vidia grabbed a vine and wrapped it around her waist. She stuck the broken shell in her belt to use later on.

She noted vaguely that a flock of seagulls had settled down on the beach. None of them paid much attention to her. She took a deep breath.

_Concentrate._ She chided. _And don't pick up any more snakes._

"Vidia!"

"Scruffy." she gasped. Seagulls would really enjoy to find food sitting there on a tree. She snatched up some more broken seashells and ran to grab the vines she had collected earlier.

"I'm coming, Scruffy!" she shouted, sprinting across the sand.

She scrambled onto the brim of the hat. "Are you okay?"

Scruffy sat up. "NO! I'm stuck in the top of a palm tree – however stubby and short it is, and there are seagulls all around. I'm even in a hat that looks like a soup bowl. I am not OKAY!"

"Calm down, sweetie, you aren't soup yet." Vidia noticed he had managed the holes around the hat brim and she threaded the vine through them.

"You look pale."

"You're imagining things." Vidia rolled her eyes, tying the vine off.

"What happened?"

"I got vines." she paused. "Ran into a snake."

"And it didn't eat you?"

"Course not! It went its' way, and I went mine." _Very quickly._ She added, in her head.

A seagull called loudly from nearby.

"Ahh!" Scruffy dived back down into the bottom of the hat, then peeped up. "It didn't see me?"

"No, it didn't see either of us." Vidia tied the other end of the vine around a few palm branches. "All right, Scruffy. Ready?"

"No! Wait, I'm not ready -"

"Too bad." Vidia yanked the hat so it started to slide off the edge, then grabbed the vine and braced herself against a branch.

The vine held well, and the hat bent, but didn't rip. Vidia lowered the hat until she'd run out of vine.

"How close are you to the ground?" she asked, pushing enormous leaves out of the way, trying to see down.

"Close enough I don't have to jump." Scruffy stepped out of the hat. "I'm on the ground."

Vidia grabbed the vine and slid down.

"Finally. It feels like that took hours." Vidia smiled, then glanced up at the sky. "We need to go . . . that way." she pointed into the forest. "But then, you asked me to take you with me – did you mean pixie hollow? Or do you want to stay here?"

"I don't think it's safe for you to travel alone." Scruffy said, seriously. "Snakes and all sorts of other things are in the woods."

"I'll manage."

"It's safer for me, too. There are seagulls all around the beach. I at least need to find somewhere else to stay." Scruffy continued. "But then – do you want me with you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"But do you _want _me to come with?"

Vidia muttered something, then spoke up. "I wouldn't mind company."

"Then I'll come with. It'll be good for both of us."

Vidia started off without replying.

Vidia had just gotten to the edge of the woods when Scruffy stopped her. "Hey, Vidia!"

"What?" Vidia turned.

"Look, the grass has been crushed over there. Like a rabbit trail. It's going the right direction – we can use it."

"All right." They started down the path.

They had walked for quite a while silently on the path when Vidia heard something and stopped. Scruffy didn't notice, and kept walking.

"So not a rabbit trail." Vidia said aloud, watching the enormous figure over her in astonishment. "Scruffy!" she screamed, just as the Indian child reached down and grabbed Scruffy by his tail. "Scruffy!"


	3. Mermaid Lagoon

**Disclaimer: All recognizable story material does not belong to me**

**Stand Your Ground**

**Chapter 3**

**Mermaid Lagoon**

"Scruffy!"

The child must've heard the jingling of her voice, for he dropped Scruffy and picked up Vidia instead. He grabbed her by her middle with his fist and stared at her close to his face.

"Put me down!" Vidia shrieked, pointing at the ground. The child just gazed at her, fascinated. "Scruffy, help me!"

The child yelled in pain and dropped her as Scruffy bit him. Vidia landed hard on the ground and struggled to catch her breath. Scruffy managed somehow to get her on his back, and limped off into the grass carrying her.

He sat down and Vidia slid off onto the ground, coughing.

"I don't see him anymore. I think he ran home." Scruffy observed as he waited for her to recover. Somehow he knew she didn't want sympathy or pity.

"What is he doing here?" Vidia demanded when she could speak again. "The Indian camp is all the way across the island."

"I don't know. Maybe they're hunting pirates." Scruffy suggested.

Vidia groaned as she climbed to her feet. "I can't believe I got myself stuck out here like this."

Scruffy waited for her to speak.

"Careless, that's what the scouts are." Vidia growled. "If I was any other fairy we'd have seen dozens of patrols by now. And not one. Not one!"

"I'm think you're wrong." Scruffy waited patiently, fluffing his fur gently with a paw.

"You're right – I probably am. Since I live in the Sour Plum tree away from the other fairies they probably haven't even noticed that I'm gone!" Vidia ranted. "I can't believe-"

"We could stop for the night." Scruffy suggested.

"No!" Vidia shook her head. "Let's go." She stamped off into the grass. Scruffy watched her for a moment, then followed.

**Stand Your Ground**

It was getting very dark, the sky was turning a dark purplish blue, when Scruffy trotted up to Vidia. "Do you hear that?"

Vidia paused and listened. "Sounds like water."

"Is there water where we're supposed to be going?" Scruffy asked.

"Not unless we're too far west – we might be near Crocodile River. Or if we're too far east . . ." Vidia ran forward and the grass stopped next to the water. "We're at Mermaid Lagoon."

"How far is it to get around?"

Vidia strained to see the other side. "A long way. But if I remember correctly, if we go just a little way east it's much smaller and we can get across on a raft."

"It's pretty dark to be finding materials to make a raft . . ." Scruffy waited for her to decide.

"We'll wait until morning." Vidia looked around. "That looks safe and comfortable." she pointed underneath a small grass plant. "No one will be able to see us."

Scruffy walked over to it and curled up comfortably. Vidia tore a leave off a plant and used it as a blanket.

"Goodnight, Vidia."

"Hmm . . ." Vidia murmured as she drifted off to sleep.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia woke with water soaking her shoes. She sat up, startled, and realized that the tide had just come in. Scruffy was still asleep, as the water hadn't reached him yet.

She started off down the beach and grabbed sticks and vines. She tied them together in a sort of boat shape and lined it with leaves. She then found a forked stick and wrapped a leaf around it for an oar.

"Scruffy, wake up." She called.

Scruffy rolled to his other side and covered one ear with a paw.

Vidia straightened from her work. "Come over here and help me test this out."

Scruffy batted one eye open. "What a nice boat!" he admired.

"I wouldn't quite call it a boat." Vidia objected. "Hop in."

"Is it safe?" Scruffy stretched and plodded over to her.

"We won't find out until you hop in."

Scruffy obeyed.

Vidia shoved it off the sand and it floated – barely. "Looks good." she decided, grabbed her oar, splashed out to it and jumped in.

She started paddling gently, and the raft moved out over the lagoon. "You keep a lookout for floating obstacles." she instructed. "And let me know if we go too far left – we don't want to run into the waterfall."

"Aye, aye." Scruffy turned around. "What kind of obstacles?"

"I don't know – grass, sticks, mermaid things . . ."

"There are mermaids here?"

"It's 'Mermaid Lagoon'. Why else would we name it that, dear?" Vidia rolled her eyes.

"The pirates don't think mermaids exist. I only heard about the Lagoon from them. They figure there's some kind of killer fish in it, though."

"Killer fish?" Vidia stopped paddling and peered at the water. "I've never heard of any killer fish in the lagoon . . . don't worry." She started the raft moving again.

"What are the mermaids like?"

"Vain and selfish, mostly. I don't really mess around with them much." Vidia paused and looked up as she heard something.

"Look, Scruffy – a mermaid." she pointed.

A mermaid had just come to the surface and was reclining on a rock far away.

"She's pretty."

"And she likes looking at pretty stuff – that's why she's holding a mirror." Vidia shook her head and turned to start paddling.

The mermaid jumped off the rock and dived into the lagoon. "Vidia, hold on!" Scruffy warned, and a second later the large ripple from the dive struck the ship, driving it to the right several feet.

"Wow. I'm glad we weren't on the other side of those rocks, or we'd be caught in the currents." Vidia noted, trying to get the large water droplets off the ship.

"Vidia, you aren't paddling."

"No, I'm not."

"Why's the ship moving, then?" Scruffy asked, scared.

Vidia turned. "Currents!" she exclaimed.

"We're going to go into the waterfall – we're dead!"

"No, we're being pulled out to sea, where we're dead!" Vidia contradicted. "Toss me the paddle!"

"It won't help."

"Well it isn't going to hurt!" Vidia started paddling quickly, then found herself facedown on the raft as it jerked violently.

"What happened?" she demanded, scrambling to her feet.

"We struck a rock." Scruffy answered.

"Grab it, quick!"

Scruffy curled his tail around the rock and dug his claws into the boat.

"Hold on tight." Vidia urged.

A wave came over the boat and drenched them both, and suddenly the current started tugging harder. The boat wrenched forward, leaving Scruffy with his tail around a rock and his claws in a thick leaf.

"Scruffy!" Vidia shouted in dismay, then looked around at the water taking her out to sea.

"I should never have gotten distracted that first day." she muttered to the air, which was blowing hard against her face and chilling her to the bone.

"That's it!" she snatched up the largest leaf in the boat and held it up into the wind. The east wind lifted her into the air, blowing her over Scruffy and into the center of the leaf. She heard a tearing noise, then she splashed into the cold water.

She tried to take a breath, then the heavy leaf landed on top of her. She shoved it to one side and came up to the surface, choking and coughing.

All at once she saw two fairies far above her, heading to the cove.

"Tink!" she croaked "Tin-" cough "-kerbell! Dessa! Iridessa!" She was distracted by a large fish who was looking at her. She recalled faintly someone saying 'killer fish', but couldn't quite remember when. She froze and stared right back at it. A wave splashed over her head, and everything was going fuzzy. She saw something brownish gray that looked like Scruffy, but was too large. She couldn't hear anything, then her sight went black.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia blinked and sat up. What caught her attention immediately was that one foot was freezing, and the other was warm. She looked at them and saw she was wearing only one soggy shoe. Looking out over the lagoon she could see a small purple speck floating lazily out to sea.

"Sorry I couldn't save it."

She twisted around to look at Scruffy, who yawned.

"How did you – what happened?" Vidia asked.

"I guess rats are supposed to be able to swim." Scruffy smiled. "I didn't know I could, and I couldn't figure out what _you _were trying to do – until I saw the fairies."

"I _did _see the fairies!" Vidia grinned. "I wasn't really sure if I was delusional or not."

"Not sure what delusional means, but you saw the fairies. A green one and a yellow one." Scruffy stood and shook himself. "Anyway, I think I like swimming. I scared away the fish and got you on the beach. You were fainted, so I took a nap to wait for you."

Vidia was silent for a minute. "I guess I'm supposed to say 'Thank you'."

"You don't need to – I didn't say 'Thanks' when you rescued me from the palm tree." Scruffy pointed out.

"That's right, you didn't. How ungrateful." Vidia scolded.

"But you haven't thanked me . . ."

"Right." Vidia considered for a moment. "We're even. We'll both be ungrateful."

"Fine. So where are we going next?"

"That way." Vidia pointed. "Pixie Hollow isn't too far. There aren't any lagoons or floating hats or rafts. We shouldn't have any more problems."

**Stand Your Ground**

"It's going to kill us, isn't it? We're going to die! I told you this was a terrible idea, Vidia!"

"Shut up!" Vidia hissed, peeked around the leaf. "Okay, it's gone."

"Thank goodness!" Scruffy was panting from exertion from their run.

"I've got it it open!" Vidia announced. "Want some dinner?"

Scruffy stared at it dubiously. "Are nuts good for rats?"

"You tell me - I'm no animal fairy."

Scruffy stiffened. "Vidia . . ." he whispered.

"What?" Vidia turned around to see their enemy towering over them. The squirrel was holding out a paw. "Hi, Mrs Squirrel -"

The squirrel scowled harder. "Mr – Squirrel, we just were worried that your nut was – spoiled, and we didn't want you giving spoiled nuts to your children. But it looks good. End of inspection. Good day." Vidia put the nutshell back together an handed it to the squirrel.

She turned and started walking into the grass.

"Get going!" she told Scruffy as they got out of sight, and showed him the nutmeat she had emptied from the shell.

They dashed forward, and after a moment could hear the faint chattering of the angry squirrel.

**Stand Your Ground**

Scruffy yawned "Things went pretty well today, didn't they?"

"Yeah. Amazing. We almost drowned."

"So things went pretty well in the afternoon."

"Of course. We were almost eaten by a giant squirrel -"

"Stealing the nut was _your _idea."

"I don't deny it. And that was a good nut."

"So things went pretty well in the past hour."

"In the past hour, darling, you've been talking, and I've been trying to go to sleep." Vidia rolled over. "Try to get some rest."

"All right." Scruffy said, grouchily.

There was a pause. "Goodnight, Vidia."

Vidia rolled over and draped a leaf over her head.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia choked and rubbed the water off her face onto her sleeve. Scruffy was sleeping peacefully a few steps away. But not for long. A flash of lightning lit up the dim morning and thunder boomed loudly, waking Scruffy up.

"'Morning, Scruffy, but it sure isn't good." Vidia called, grabbing leaves and finding sticks to construct umbrellas.

"That was _loud_." Scruffy remarked, stretching. "On the pirate ship I'd have gone below deck, but where do we go?"

"Onward." Vidia declared. "We're getting closer with every – step." she paused, thinking.

"Well then, let's go." Scruffy started off.

Vidia remained still for a minute, but then hurried to catch up.

In the early afternoon the rain was coming down in large drops, covering the ground with little depressions, and little streams crisscrossed across the ground, running downhill toward the Crocodile River.

"Watch out, there's a little river there." Scruffy warned, stepping through it. He was larger and heavier, so he didn't have to worry. Of course, he also had four – three feet.  
Vidia jumped over the rivulet and held the umbrella over both of them.

"Are you sure you don't want to find a nice dry plant to sit underneath until it's over?"  
"It might not be over for ages." Vidia protested. "I need to get back to Pixie Hollow."

"Why?" Scruffy slowed his pace and turned to look at her.

"Besides that I've been almost stepped on by a pirate, impaled by a pirate, eaten by a snake _and __a _squirrel, almost drowned, and was attacked by a hawk and need to see a healing-talent fairy, I'm pretty sure they're using up valuable resources looking for me." Vidia explained.

Scruffy's next step didn't land on the ground, but sank into cold water and mud. He did a complete flip into the small river. "AH!"


	4. How Scruffy Speaks

**Disclaimer: All recognizable subject material does not belong to me.**

**Stand Your Ground**

**Chapter 4**

**How Scruffy Speaks**

"Scruffy!" Vidia stepped forward, but couldn't reach him. The water was deep enough he was swept downstream.

"Don't get pulled in!" Scruffy shouted, trying to swim against the current.

Vidia ran along the stream to get ahead of him, then reached out toward him again. She instinctively jerked away as a raindrop torpedoed down to explode next to her, but reached out toward Scruffy again. Her fingertips barely brushed his fur.

"Get a stick – or grass – or something!" Scruffy yelled, panicked. She grabbed a blade of grass that she hoped was strong, then trusted it with all her weight. She leaned all the way over to the middle of the river and seized Scruffy's paw as he was swept by.

"I've got you, Scruffy." Vidia pulled him to the side. He climbed out and Vidia jumped back as he shook himself vigorously.

Vidia sighed. "Let's find a nice dry plant to sit underneath 'til it's over."

Scruffy gestured to one nearby.

They sat down and watched the stream go rushing by. "I'm sorry, Scruffy." Vidia said, suddenly.

"It wasn't your fault."

"You wanted to stop and I wouldn't let you." Vidia shrugged. "I should've."

"It was my clumsiness."

"I distracted you."

"How could the fairies ever do without you? You're such a rude, unlikeable, irresponsible and cowardly sort of person." Scruffy said kindly and sarcastically.

Vidia snorted a laugh. "Thanks."

They were silent for a while, watching the raindrops fall, denting the ground and exploding like missiles.

"I thought fairies' wings couldn't be fixed." Scruffy suddenly braved a lonely topic.

"Why do you think that?"

"I was on the pirate ship when they had the fairy as captain. I learned a lot about fairies. So can wings be fixed?"

"I don't know a lot about healing fairy wings." Vidia admitted. "A tear can't be fixed. I've heard that – oh, who am I kidding." she sighed. "Nothing can be done. Tink will find some kind of delicate mechanical device so that I can fly again, and it'll break, then she'll apologize and get me a new one. Whether I'll be alive at that point is uncertain. I'm sure she'll find you a nice wooden leg that'll work really well."

"Can you do your fairy work without flying?"

"You know about fairy talents, right? Garden, water, tinkering, fire . . ."

"Yeah, of course."

"I'm a fast-flying fairy. Other fairies might be able to cope, but I'm just no use."

"You made that whirly thing to get us over the ocean when we were in the hat. That wasn't useless."

"But other fairies could've done it better." Vidia pointed out. "I'm going to be a handicap for as long as I stay in Pixie Hollow. I'll never go to the mainland again, and I'll never compete in the Pixie Hollow Games. It'll be useful for going over to see the Winter Fairies, though."

They both sat silently.

"Shouldn't we have some kind of signal out in case other fairies are flying around?"

"They can't – it's raining. Fairy wings get heavy when they're wet."

"Oh, so that's another advantage you'll have over the others."

"Yeah." Vidia agreed, halfheartedly. "Advantage. Look, since we can't go anywhere, I'm going to take a nap."

"Goodnight."

"Hm." Vidia was almost immediately asleep.

Scruffy frowned, but then saw how unhappy she looked. "That response changes – tomorrow." he predicted, speaking to himself.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia woke up with something fuzzy poking at her face.

"Stop it, Scruffy, I'm awake." she sat up. "Ahh! Get away!" She scrambled away from the curious caterpillar and glared at it until it went on its' way.

Suddenly she realized she was missing something. "Scruffy? Scruffy!"

She stood. "Scruffy, are you here?" she looked around. "Scruffy!"

Any paw prints were indistinguishable from hers as they had sunk into little depressions in the ground, however there was only one set of footprints leading away, and that was toward Pixie Hollow.

Vidia jumped across the stream and followed the footprints.

The rain had stopped completely and the sun was shining behind thin clouds, but enormous drops of water fell from the grass and trees, hurling through the air to explode on the ground. Vidia looked around her hair slapping her shoulders. Something hit her head very hard. She realized she was soaked in water, and lying facedown in the mud. Her purple outfit had turned purplish-brown, and her faithful purple hairband was lying, broken, in the mud. But Scruffy came first.

Vidia's bare feet thumped across the soft ground as she ran. Suddenly there was a clearing where there was no grass at all. Over the top of the hill she could see smoke rising.

She stepped behind a blade of grass. The paw prints clearly showed that Scruffy had gone that way.

"Scruffy?" she called quietly.

"Vidia, is that you?" Scruffy bounded up to the top of the hill. "Come on."

"What's that fire?" Vidia asked.

"I saw a couple more fairies and thought I'd try to attract their attention." Scruffy explained.

Vidia sighed in relief, amusement, and worry. "Scruffy, what else is attracted by fire?"

"Salamanders?"

"What're Salamanders?"

"Legendary lizards who breathe fire."

"Like to meet one of those . . . But no."

"Moths?"

"Try again."

"Uh . . ."

"Let's see . . . someone who likes to pick up rats by their tails?" Vidia suggested

Scruffy shuddered. "Indians."

"And/or pirates." Vidia pointed out. "I hear from the fire fairies that if you put a wet leaf on a fire it'll smoke for a while. You grab a wet leave, and I'll leave a message in case the fairies do see it, then we'll move on."

"All right." Scruffy moved off.

Vidia grabbed a blade of grass and tore it into strips, arranging it on the ground to spell VIDIA.

"VI-DEE-UH" Scruffy read out. "You sure that's enough?"

"The scouting-talent fairies can track us from here." Vidia stepped back.

Scruffy dumped the damp leaf on the fire and it started smoking.

"That'll do very well." Vidia grinned.

"They can't miss that." Scruffy agreed, watching the thin line of smoke ascend to the sky.

"If they come near here. There's only a few fairies free to search for a missing fairy, probably dead – and I wasn't supposed to go anywhere near here."

"You really _are _a killjoy, aren't you?" Scruffy scolded. "I'd really like to take a look around your head – what happened to your head-fur?"

Vidia felt her head – her hair was loose. "A big water drop landed on me and I lost my hairtie. I lost my last shoe, too."

"Let's go look." Scruffy suggested.

Vidia shook her head. "We need to get moving. If they don't see this message, we'll have to get close to Pixie Hollow before they'll see us."

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Pixie Hollow is my home."

"You've been in a hurry ever since you left. I suspect there's a bit more to it than that."

"What do you know about hawks, sweetie?" Vidia put her arm around the rat's neck and addressed him in her best 'Vidia' voice.

"They eat rats."

"And fairies. And they are extremely fast. I can usually outfly a hawk until I find a way to outthink him. Hawks aren't as stupid as people think, and they remember fairies who've outsmarted them. I don't want to get attacked by a hawk while I'm stuck on the ground without wings."

Scruffy considered that. "That makes sense." he decided. "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

They started off.

For lunch break, she and Scruffy ate the last of the nutmeat they'd stolen at the base of a mountain.

"We can go around, but that would involve climbing, because this mountain kind of mushes into the one east of here." Vidia consulted her considerable store of Neverland topographical information. She flew around the island more than any other fairy.

"I'm pretty sure it would take less time to just go over." Vidia decided.

"If you think we can."

"Oh, sure." Vidia smiled. "It isn't too steep."

**Stand Your Ground**

"Vidia, can you grab my tail?"

"Will it take the weight?"

"What's it going to do? Snap off? You're lighter than you look and you look like a feather." Scruffy replied. "Just grab it."

Vidia grabbed his tail and held on for dear life as she stepped from one ledge to another. "It's a lot steeper from down here." she muttered.

"What's that, Vidia? I can't hear you." Scruffy called down.

"We should probably stop soon – it's getting dim. We don't want one of us to fa – ah!"  
Vidia grabbed onto his tail again as a rock broke loose and bounced down the mountainside.

"Good idea. I see a level spot just ahead – above, I mean."

Vidia released Scruffy's tail and continued climbing.

**Stand Your Ground**

That afternoon was the first where Vidia and Scruffy had near smooth sailing.

"We didn't get crushed, smushed, eaten, drowned, and we didn't fall . . ." Vidia smiled. "That, sunshine, was a good day."

"Well, my feet are tired." Scruffy was curled up near her.

"Come on, you have twice as many – you've got more feet than me."

"Which means I have to make more effort to move more feet to move the same distance."

"But you don't use your -" Vidia frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"Neither do you."

There was a pause.

"Scruffy, when did you start to talk?"

"I couldn't talk when you came . . . actually, I think it was just a few days after I met you and your rainbow-colored friends."

"Did you get fairy dust on you? Kind of sparkly, yellowy stuff?"

"No, but I remember being confused because my apple core had some orange sparkly stuff on it."

Vidia frowned. "Are you sure it wasn't gold?"

"It was very orange."

She snapped her fingers "Zarina!"

"And Zarina is . . .?"

"She made different types of pixie dust and switched our talents. We were all confused then because we had the wrong talents. Rosetta must have somehow gotten some dust on your snack."

"So I'm an animal-talent fairy?"

"I think that you're a fairy-talent animal." Vidia nodded. "Fawn's going to be delighted to meet you."

"Doesn't fairy dust wear off?"

Vidia frowned. "I don't know about what happens if you _eat _it." she admitted. "Maybe the effects are permanent."

Scruffy yawned. "Good. Permanent fairy-talent animal. Sounds great. I'm sleepy. Goodnight."

"Hm."

"Goodnight."

"Hm."

There was silence for a minute.

"Hey, Vidia?"

"Yes, Scruffy?"

"Goodnight."

"Okay."

"No. _Goodnight._"

"Yeah, I hope so."

"Come on, Vidia."

"Look, Scruffy, I'm tired."

"Then say it. Goodnight . . ."

"Oh, come on." Vidia groaned.

"Pleeeease!"

"Go to sleep."

"Viiiiidiaaaaa."

Vidia put her arm over her ear to stop the noise. Scruffy uncurled his tail and tickled her.

"Ah! Scruffy!" Vidia sat up, irritated.

"Say it. Goodnight, Vidia."

"Fine! Fine. Okay. GOOD NIGHT." Vidia rolled over and went to sleep, but Scruffy noticed she had cracked a very small smile.


	5. Return of the Hawk

**Dislclaimer: All recognizable story material does not belong to me**

**Stand Your Ground**

**Chapter 5**

**Return of the Hawk**

"Vidia – Vidia! Vidia! Wake up, wake up! Please wake up! Vidia, now! Please hurry – wake up, wake up!" Scruffy was shaking her energetically.

"Scruf – Scruffy, I'm awake." Vidia rubbed a hand over her sleepy face.

"Oh, please come on, Vidia! Quick!"

"Scruffy, what's up?"

"Yeah, literally." Scruffy pointed in the air. "See?"

Vidia looked up. "Hawk." She shuddered.

"And we're up here on the side of the mountainside – like being on a table."

"At least there's plants here." Vidia gazed up at the bird, watching it's manner carefully.

"Yeah, but-"

The hawk didn't make a sound, but he changed directions slightly, circling the mountain.

"It's spotted us." Vidia breathed. She snatched up a small stone. "Run, Scruffy – don't make a sound, and try not to attract attention. Get to the top."

"You're coming, right?"

"I'll be right there." Vidia assured him, and launched the rock into the air to distract the eager hawk.

"Scruffy, go! And find some large leaves when you get up there!" she instructed.

"All right!"

She heard Scruffy bounding uphill behind her, but she faced the hawk and threw more rocks at him.

The hawk circled above her then dived toward her, feet outstretched to grab her.

Vidia discarded the stones and snatched up a stick. The hawk's feet opened wide and kept descending. She could see the sun glinting off the claws and she knew it was time to act. She swung the stick harder than she thought she could, smashing the hawk's toes.

The hawk flew away from her, screeching and glaring. He watched Vidia carefully as she threw away the stick and raced up the mountain after Scruffy.

"Come on, Vidia!" she could hear Scruffy hollering from the top.

Vidia could hear wings behind her coming closer.

"Vidia – look out!" Vidia moved a few steps to one side very quickly, and the hawk scraped his feet on the ground, missing her entirely.

"Grab my tail!"

"I can't – half a minute!"

"You don't have a half-minute! Hurry!"

Vidia stepped onto a rock and reached up for Scruffy's tail.

She set her feet more firmly on the rock when suddenly she felt a great wind behind her, and she knew the hawk was right there. She looked down, and saw his feet scrabbling at the mountainside, get closer and closer to her.

The rock she stood on suddenly went careening down the mountain.

"Scruffy!" Vidia shouted. "Pull me up!"

He did. When she could see grass to pull on she grabbed it and climbed up.  
"Thanks, Scruffy."

"What's the plan?" Scruffy asked.

"The leaves. Did you get them?" Vidia glanced over her shoulder at the hawk.

"What leaves?"

Vidia sighed. "Get some leaves, quick."

She ran and grabbed some leaves.

"All right, Scruffy, that's enough. Come over here and hold still." Vidia tied three leaves together as a parachute, then used another to fasten them around his belly.

"I don't think it's going to work." Scruffy noted. "I'm pretty heavy."

"Hey, it's never failed me." Vidia tightened the knot.

"Have you ever _tried _it?"

"That's beside the point. You trust me, don't you?"

"Kind of."

"Then run and jump off. I'll be right behind you." Vidia grinned. "See you at the bottom."

Scruffy took a running start and ran right off the edge. She saw the leaves floating away perfectly. Now to make sure the hawk didn't see.

"Hey! Hawk! Come and get me! I'm a target!" Vidia shouted and waved her arms. "I'm a tasty fairy, and you've already messed up my wings, so why not try for me?"

She grabbed a stone and threw it toward the hawk, but it didn't go near him. She glanced down toward the leaf floating toward the grass tops.

_He's safe._ She decided. She grabbed a leaf and tied one end to her wrist. The Hawk had circled away when she threw the stone, but now was watching her hungrily. She tied the other end to her other wrist, ran . . . and stopped.

"Oh, come on." she said aloud. "I'm a fast-flying fairy. I can fall a little."

She could hear the hawk calling behind her, and she went back to the other side of the top.

She started running toward the edge. She ran – faster – faster, then lost her nerve and dug her heels into the ground, but her leaf had caught the wind and she went straight over the edge.

"Whoa!" she shrieked. She blew up into the air, then started floating gently down.

She heaved a deep breath of relief – until she noticed that something large was shielding her from the rising sun – something with feathers. She twisted around to look at the hawk who had decided to try a more direct approach and was diving toward her with open mouth.

Vidia tried to move sideways through the air, but the leaf betrayed her, keeping her faithfully on course.

The hawk was right next to her, and she reached out and grabbed the top of his beak. She kicked her legs away as he snapped his mouth shut in an attempt to grab her.

Vidia swung precariously off his beak. He opened his mouth wide again, and an idea struck her. She swung back, then swung both her feet into the hawks' mouth, kicking it in the mouth. She dived away from the hawk into the air as it screeched it's disapproval. It's claws tried to catch her leaf parachute, but only managed to make a slight hole near the edge.

She looked down at the fast approaching ground and tried to spot where Scruffy was.

She heard a tearing noise above her and looked up in alarm. Her leaf was tearing – no, had just torn halfway across . . . suddenly she was speeding down toward the ground. She tried to reach up and hold it together, but couldn't grab them. The jagged edges were flapping wildly in the wind.

"I sure hope Scruffy made it." she told the air just before she slammed into the ground.

**Stand Your Ground**

Tinkerbell looked around. Sera, a scouting-talent fairy, had gotten to the rendezvous first, of course, and Tinkerbell could see Rosetta flying toward them. Silvermist was just walking up.

"Anything, Silvermist?" Sera had organized the search.

"Nothing."

"Tink?"

"No."

Rosetta landed, then Iridessa flew into sight and landed quickly.

"No sightings, you two?"

"Sorry, sugar, nothing." Rosetta said, sadly, in her usual southern accent.

"I flew into a small cloud of smoke on the way here, but it was just a little fire with some Indian children playing. No sign of Vidia." Iridessa responded.

Fawn flew into the clearing and landed excitedly.

"Fawn!" Tink exlaimed.

"Honey, did you see her?" Rosetta asked.

"What's up?" Silvermist joined in.

"News!" Fawn announced.

"Oh." Iridessa looked disappointed.

"I talked to a crab, and he saw a fairy the evening of the day she disappeared."

"A fairy? What talent fairy?"

"Crabs aren't very smart." Fawn explained. "He didn't notice anything about her. Not her clothing or hair."

"So we don't know that he saw Vidia." Tink sighed.

"No, no! We do. He says that she was running down the beach, and when she saw him, she _glared._ Now what fairy would glare terrifyingly at a poor, helpless little crab?"

"Vidia." Tinkerbell nodded.

"So there we have it. The hawk couldn't have eaten her on her scouting loop because she was running on the beach several hours afterward." Fawn grinned.

"Running?" Silvermist remarked. "Vidia hates to run on the ground. Was she wet? Or injured?"

"As I said: Crabs aren't smart." Fawn repeated. "He didn't notice. He was really terrified of her."

"No wonder." Rosetta drawled, amused. "Vidia is _scary._"

Fawn wasn't listening, she was looking at the sky.

Silvermist frowned.

"Sometimes." Iridessa agreed, "So, Sera, where next?"

"Well, I think we need to check out the -"

"Rat!" Fawn exclaimed.

The others looked at her.

"What?" Rosetta asked, in a disgusted tone.

"Look up there!" Fawn pointed. "It's a rat – wearing a parachute."

"It's gonna crash!" Iridessa exclaimed.

"Over there! Let's go!" Fawn darted into the air.

**Stand Your Ground**

Scruffy's feet scrambled on the ground, but the leaves that saved him were now teasing him, catching a new breeze and swinging him playfully back off the ground. He wriggled, trying to get down, but only barely touched the ground. He turned around awkwardly and chewed through one of the leaves holding him up. He was jolted as he landed on his back on the no longer soft ground. The leaves floated gracefully down around him.

His next thought was whether Vidia was all right. He rolled to his feet to check, but tripped over the leaves and found himself nose-down on the ground.

"Hi there, big fellow!" a fairy was standing in front of him. "What happened to you, I wonder?"

Scruffy stared. "Gee whiz! A fairy!"

The fairy blinked, and her mouth opened slightly in shock.

He suddenly realized what had shocked her. "Yeah . . . I speak fairy." Scruffy explained.

**Stand Your Ground**

Vidia felt bruised all over. She tried to untie the leaves secured to her wrists, but the knots had tightened and she couldn't get them off. She had to settle for tearing the leaves off the stem part, leaving leafy bracelets on her arms. Then she remembered.

"Scruffy?" She yelled. "Scruffy, where are you?" she took off through the grass running in the direction she thought he had landed. "Scruffy!"

She went silent, listening, but she heard nothing.

"Scruffy!" she shouted, louder.

"Vidia – I'm over . . ." she couldn't quite hear him over the loud crickets nearby, but she could tell the direction.

"Scruffy?" she called, sprinting away. "Scruffy!" She saw a place where she could see clawmarks in the ground – little troughs where he had tried to stop the wind from pulling him away.

Sure enough, there he was ahead, turning to meet her.

"Scruffy!" she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "I was so scared those leaves wouldn't hold -" she blinked and pulled away, seeing Fawn close behind him.

"Vidia!" Fawn shouted. "It's Vidia!" Tink and the others, who had been following at a distance, came quickly.

"Vidia!" Tink exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Silvermist asked.

"I'm so glad to see you, Vidia." Rosetta added.

"We've been so worried." Iridessa was smiling.

"Hi." Vidia couldn't think of what to say, but Fawn could.

"Vidia, what have you done to the rat? He talks!"

"Don't look at me – that was Rosetta." Vidia corrected.

"What? I've never seen that rat before in my life!" Rosetta claimed. "I-"

Sera had finally caught up with them, but she didn't land.

"Look out!" she screamed.

The hawk swooped down on Vidia, who dived to the ground and rolled out of the way. The other fairies flew in different directions and hid, but Vidia stood up and ran to the center of the clearing. "Scruffy!" she shouted.

"Vidia – help!" Scruffy was locked in the hawk's talons.

"Sera – get back to Pixie Hollow!" Vidia shouted. "Hang on, Scruffy!"

"HANG ON! To what?" Scruffy demanded, terrified.

"Vidia, what do we do?" Fawn asked. Vidia had the most experience with hawks by far.

"Rosetta – some vines!"

"I'm on it, sugar!" Rosetta grew magnificent vine as the other fairies watched.

"Dessa, Sil, distract the hawk – and don't let it take him away! Tink, I need a catapult – quick! Fawn – get ready to catch Scruffy!"

"Right away." Tink found a few sticks and worked faster than she ever had before.

Vidia grabbed Rosetta's vine and tied one end firmly around a rock.

Silvermist summoned water from nearby puddles to splash it on his face. Iridessa moved beams of light to shine in his eyes.

Fawn, unsure of what to do, just hovered nearby, ready to go for Scruffy.

"Rosetta -" Vidia directed. "Tie this to that tree trunk!"

"Got it!" Tinkerbell announced. "Isn't really a finished type . . ."

"As long as it works." Vidia shoved the contraption into the middle of the clearing and put the rock into it. "Dessa! Sil! Lure it over here!"

The two fairies dived down toward Vidia. "Is this going to work?" Rosetta asked, worried.

"We'll find out." Vidia released the catapult, sending the rock high into the air.

The rock soared into the air, and the vine looked as if it would snap. But it held. The rock gave the vine enough velocity to wrap around the hawk and his wings several times, making him release Scruffy and crash to the ground.

Fawn grabbed Scruffy before he crashed, too, and set him down next to Vidia.

"Wow." she admired. "That was quick work, Vidia. Nice job."

"Good plan." Iridessa smiled.  
Tink and Silvermist were just about to congratulate her, also, but Rosetta spoke first.

"Oh, sweetheart." she said, kindly, and her eyes filled with tears. "Your wings are gone."

The others gasped, seeing it for the first time.

"Yeah." Vidia said, bitterly. "It was that hawk that tore them off."

"We'd better get you back to the healing fairies." Tinkerbell decided.

"And Scruffy." Vidia added. "Don't forget him."

"No fear." Scruffy grinned. "I can talk, remember?"

"He never shuts up." Vidia added.

"So how do we get her back?" Silvermist asked, cautiously.

"I won't be carried!" Vidia's pride kicked in.

"Why don't you let me have some fairy dust, and Vidia can ride on my back?" Scruffy suggested.

"That works." Vidia compromised.

"Good idea." Fawn sprinkled him with dust, and he rose from the ground.

"Wait for me!" Vidia said, irritated. She grabbed a paw to pull him back down, but he just pulled her into the air. She sighed and clambered up.

"Next stop, Pixie Hollow." Scruffy said. "And no more pirates."

"Flying hats . . ."

"Indians . . ." Scruffy continued

"Drowning . . ."

"Getting smushed . . ."

"Parachuting . . ."

"Fighting hawks . . ." Vidia grinned.

"Oh, dear!" Rosetta paled. "Smushed?"

"Sounds like a lot of stories!" Tinkerbell said.

"How long has it been since I left?" Vidia asked.

"This is the 6th day, counting the one you left as the first." Iridessa replied.

"It feels like it's been weeks." Vidia leaned forward and whispered in Scruffy's ear. "Lean forward."

"Why? What does that do?" Scruffy whispered back.

"Trust me and do it." Vidia answered, and Scruffy yelled in terror as he started zooming forward, leaving the other fairies behind.

Vidia let her loose hair flow in the wind and shut her eyes against the wind against her face.

It was hard to believe that she'd never have wings again. Harder to think how useless she'd be.

She glanced back at her friends who were trying to catch up. She knew it wouldn't matter to them, and they'd help her cope. But without any sort of reason, she felt that somehow she might not always have to stand her ground.

**End**

**I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have. M.J.J.**


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